My Unhappiest Place on Earth

You know the store if you have a kid in your life. I hate it and with just call it Multiple Layers of Hell R Us (MLOHRU). I rarely go there and it is even less likely that I will bring my kids there.

1. Their cashiers are slower than snails and usually there is only one lane available.

2. Returns. You must have a receipt and even then if you have a gift receipt you get store credit.

3. In my opinion they misrepresent their sales items when they put the sale price next to the display which includes everything and really they are only selling the shell of the item when the everything item is also for sale but not at the sale price right next to it.

4. Bringing my kids to the store is a nightmare. I don't know if it the shear volume of toys or if the store pipes mind altering gases through the a/c but my kids get a huge case of the "give mes" and "I wants" more often than not. I suspect it is the later given that we can get through any other store, gift shop or stand selling cr*p without any major incident when I say no and fail to make their desired purchase whether we are at home or traveling. This is ultimately what drives me up a wall. I used to witness kids leaving the Disney Store screaming even before I had kids and called that store the unhappiest place on earth. Now MLOHRU is my unhappiest place on earth.

With Christmas we received and even bought items from MLOHRU. Unfortunately P got a HSM doll whose arm fell off when she undressed it and K had a motorized Thomas train break after two weeks. I blame the manufacturers for the defects, but unfortunately I have to deal with MLOHRU and their return policy. Receipts are non existent so I went to the store with K to buy replacements with the intention of just swapping out the broken toys this week.

Neither item was in stock and since we were already in the Thomas section K started asking for everything. Fortunately he was saying he wanted if for Christmas, so it wasn't an immediate purchase he was planning. Then he started pulling stuff on the shelves saying he was going to buy it. I said "No." That caused the tears and melt down I dread and why we don't frequent MLOHRU.

K looked at the other trains available. Since he knew we were coming to buy him a new train, I did relent and say he could pick one today or wait for the motorized train he wanted. Somehow his three year old mind he understood the concept of delayed gratification and chose to wait. That was a proud moment and we walked out of the store without making a purchase.

There are at least two more visit to MLOHRU to replace and then return the broken toys. I hope I can remember that it is more than a toy store and an opportunity to teach my children that while we will always take care of their needs, their wants will not always be met immediately. Of course, I only have to remember that lesson if I bring them into MLOHRU.